Researcher at RUB: Dr Andrzej Michalczyk

East Central Europe is rarely included in global history studies and treated as part of global dynamics. The project asks how and to what extent people from Upper Silesia participated in global processes of "urbanisation" and contributed to the spread of urban lifestyles, or remained detached from them.

The historical roots of today’s social polarisation between "elites" and "ordinary people", between "intelligentsia" and "the uneducated", could already be observed from the 1940s to the 1970s, when an overwhelming majority of the population moved into urban environments – as was the case in the countries proposed for this study: Poland, West Germany, Brazil and the United States.

Today, many people in these countries are receptive to populist messages. The study therefore aims to highlight key aspects for understanding the experiences of "ordinary people". It asks whether rural-to-urban migration was accompanied by traumatic experiences, a lack of recognition, feelings of inferiority and struggles against social "glass ceilings". Or did the new income opportunities in cities (including for women) provide greater freedom and respect?

People from Upper Silesia living in Germany, or their descendants (around 1.5 million), appear neither in immigration statistics nor as a culturally significant group in the awareness of German society. At the same time, Upper Silesians in Poland are still perceived as a "nationally uncertain" group, as a "hidden German option". In addition, the project seeks to examine the transcontinental connections of this region.